The packet includes patterns for the above shapes, so that children can make a “Funny Flamingo Friend.”

They turn out absolutely adorable, so I think your kiddos will really enjoy making one.

Templates come in a large, full-page size, as well as a smaller, two-on-a-page pattern.

Decide what’s most appropriate for your students.

You don’t have to, but accordion-folding the legs is a fun way to strengthen finger muscles. Your students will also enjoy the “boing-boing” effect.

Completed projects make a super-cute display. Dangle them from the ceiling as a border in your hallway. I’ve included a poster to add pizzazz.

The packet also includes 3 sets of game cards, so that students can play “Memory Match”, “I Have; Who Has?”and sorting games with them.

The 3 sets of cards feature: flamingos with a shapely body, plain shapes, plus word cards, so that you can practice a variety of standards.

I’ve also included a “Spin to Win” game, where students partner up and take turns spinning. Whatever shape they land on, they color the matching shape on their game sheet that color.

Several other worksheets, help to further reinforce 2D shapes in other ways.

The “Flamingo Slider” is another quick, easy & fun craft, that will help you whole group assess.

My students absolutely LOVE playing this "I Spy" game. Simply call out a shape. Students pull on their "slider" strip 'til it appears in the "window" then hold up their flamingo. You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.

Two graphing extensions add some additional math pratice to the packet as well.

Use the 3 photo posters of real flamingos to introduce your lesson, as well as the “What Shape is a Flamingo’s Body Most Like?”discussion poster.

Since I'm "warping" the true shape of a flamingo, as a fun way to review shapes, I thought it important to discuss this. The poster provides a nice visual.

I’ve also included a list of super-interesting links that I use as part of my introduction as well, which helps me add a bit of science in just a few minutes.

Students learn why a flamingo is pink and other interesting facts. The 2-minute clip showing 1,000s of flamingos all in one place in Africa, is quite amazing!

Today's featured FREEBIE is also a fun activity that involves 2D shapes.

It's a very versatile, "Letter H is for House" craft that you can do when you're working on a letter a day, shapes (12, 2D shapes are included.) or doing social studies & working on communities, families & neighborhoods.

Children can also practice their address by including that as well. Add a school photo for that finishing touch. Completed projects make an adorable bulletin board too.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

It's been unseasonably hot this week with scorchers in the 90s, so it's a good day to design some more activities in my air-conditioned office. Wishing you a super-de-duper summer.

Pattern blocks are one of my students’ favorite math manipulatives. We count, sort, pattern, and do all sorts of interesting things with them.

With that in mind, I wanted to design some additional activities that would help practice a variety of standards while they “played” with them. What started out as a game & booklet, turned into a jumbo "Fun With Pattern Blocks" packet.

If you don’t have a wooden or plastic set of pattern blocks, no worries, I’ve included patterns so that you can make your own paper ones.

Pick and choose your favorites and use them as math centers, whole group activities, games, worksheets, homework, and an easy assessment tool.

They’re great for early finishers and something to tuck in your sub folder as well.

The packet includes:

* Anchor charts, pocket chart cards & posters.

* Four, pattern block shape BOOKLETS, with 4-on-a-page patterns, which make a “just the right size” mini booklet:

1. Shape UP: featuring “color me” kids holding a shape. 2. Pattern Block Fun: featuring “connect the dots” and “finish drawing the shape” pages. 3. Spying Shapes Inside Shapes: discovering, counting, coloring and naming the various shapes and … 4. Maze Craze: featuring mini mazes in the various shapes, such as “You’re hung up in a hexagon! Can you find your way out?”

* A set of “Block Heads”, which I use for flashcards, decorative anchor charts, & the “Four Corners” game. I've included a variety of silly eyeballs to mix & match. Their "mouth" names the shape.

You can also use as a whole-group craftivity & have students pick their favorite and make one of their own, writing attributes, and why it’s their favorite on the back.

* A "trace, write & color" flip-a-strip booklet, as well as a full-page booklet, which can be used for a center, anchor charts or a class-made book.

* All sorts of GAMES, many of which can be used as quick, easy and super-fun assessments, such as the “I Spy A Pattern Block!” worksheets.

* There are a variety of dice games as well, like our favorite “Rack Up a Stack!”

* Other games include: “Trapped in a Trapezoid”, “Hiding in a Hexagon”, “Trapezoid Towers”, “Rhombus Race”, “Fill it Up”, “Spin to Win”, “Two Trapped Trapezoids”, “Triangle Trees”, and a “Which trapezoid is bigger? challenge.

* The “Memory Match” game cards can also be used for, Sorting, Patterning, “I Have; Who Has?” 1-to-1 correspondence, “Kaboom!” and “What’s Missing?” activities and games.

The gloved-hands & tennis shoes on their feet at the end of colorful accordion-folded legs add the "Awww-dorable!" factor.

Completed projects make a super-cute "Getting In Shape"bulletin board display.

Besides my featured FREEBIE you may also be interested in these other FREE pattern block activities:

Holly and Heather over at Prekinders have over 20 free pattern block picture mats in full color, as well as black and white. ABC Teach also has a big variety of pattern block picture mats: toys, animals, flowers, and some really interesting and challenging patterns.

I was really excited to find a complete set of FREE pattern block mats for upper & lowercase letters as well as numbers over at Confessions of a Homeschooler. Erica also has a nice set of "complete the pattern" cards.

Well that’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by.

My mom, who is 91, is visiting for the week, so time to do some sightseeing with her. Wishing you a stress-free day.

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -Benjamin Franklin

These cuties are a quick, easy and super-fun “print & go” craftivity, that will help review 2D shapes.

The packet includes playing cards with frog and lily pad graphics, which are shaped in the various 2D shapes: circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, pentagon, octagon, rhombus, trapezoid, heart, star & crescent.

I’ve also included cards with speckled lime green shapes, plus matching word cards, as well as shape cards with a fly on them.

Use the cards for one-to-one correspondence with little ones, or Memory Match & “I Have; Who Has?”games with older students.

As a math center activity, students can also use the cards to “feed” the appropriate-shaped frog head, by finding all of the matching cards, then placing them inside the frog's open "mouth".

I’ve also included a short “giggle” tale about Ferdinand the frog, and Princess Penelope who was turned into a fly!

I had so much fun writing it! Read it as an interesting way to introduce the shape craft, then have older students "flip up the mouth" and write their own "fractured fairy tale" on the frog's "tongue".

There’s a set of discussion questions for the story, as well as a "test for comprehension" worksheet.

There are also 2D "tongue" patterns which feature a fly and the name of the shape.

Older students can also write their shape’s attributes here.

For further reinforcement, I’ve included a few worksheets, plus a certificate of praise bookmark.

This emergent reader, packs a lot of Dolch punch, as students practice color and number words, as well as 2D shapes.

Children read the simple sentences; trace & write the shape, color & number words associated with that monster, then color the “shapely monster” the matching color, adding the appropriate number of eyes.

For the last page, students design their own monster, using their favorite color, and draw on as many eyes as they are years old.

To cover another math standard, I’ve also included a graphing extension, featuring Marvin the marvelous monster who is helping to search for, count & color the various 2D shapes.

Besides the full-page booklet, to conserve paper & ink, I’ve also included 2-on-a-page templates to make a smaller emergent reader. You can use the larger one as a teacher's edition.

When everyone has completed their booklet, read it aloud as a whole group to practice concepts of print, then encourage children to share it with their family when they get home, to further reinforce colors, numbers and shapes.

Shapely Monstersis one of Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop. Click on the link to zip on over.

Today's FREEBIE also has to do with shapes, and features an assortment of fall-themed pictures. I hope you enjoy it. Fall Shape Matching Game.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. There's a huge MOPSsale at a nearby church today!

I'm excited to search for some bargain-priced clothes and goodies for my grandchildren. Wishing you an exciting day.

Since the other Shapely Animal packets have been such popular downloads, I decided to add another one for spring. If you missed the Shapely Slick Chick packet that I published earlier this month, click on the link to grab it. Here are the links for the other shapely animal packets as well: Penguins and Owls

The Honey Bunny packetfollows a similar format. I've included large shapes that students can add details and ears to, to make their shapely bunny, as well as a set with bunny features drawn in. Make a set, laminate and then use as a sweet spring bulletin board or to use as giant flashcards.

Have children pick out their favorite shape and make one of their own. However, If you want to turn their work into a bulletin board as well, toss the shape cards into a container and have them choose one.

Whatever shape they pick is the Shapely Bunny that they'll create, otherwise, you might end up with everyone doing the same shape.

I've included a big bunny poster that you can personalize with your name and the caption: "Mr(s) ____________'s class is really shaping up... or "Somebunny" knows their shapes. Hang this in the center of your bulletin board.

Use the other poster to make a "What's the secret shape?" game. Draw a question mark on an index card and tape it to the laminated poster so that it's a "hinged" "flap" door.

Using a dry erase marker, draw a shape underneath or tape up one of the shape cards. Call on children to guess what shape is hiding?

There's also an emergent reader booklet that covers quite a few standards. Students read the simple sentences, underline the capital letters and add end punctuation.

Children trace and write the shape words, as well as trace and draw the shapes and then draw details on the first shape to make it look like a bunny.

The last page asks them which Honey Bunny was their favorite. A graph is provided to record this data.

I've included bunny shape cards in color, along with their matching shape word cards. These are perfect for Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games.

Add the bunny Kaboom cards to your game to make things even more fun.

There's also a set in black and white, which includes a cover, so that students can make an Itty Bitty Shape Booklet.

Students can also play a funny bunny spinner game. Children pick a partner and take turns spinning.

Whatever shape they land on, they color the matching shape on their funny bunny. The child who completes their worksheet first is the winner.

Finally, I've also included a worksheet with spatial directions, one for listing a shape's attributes, plus a "match the shape to the shape word" worksheet.

When everyone has completed whatever projects you want them to do, pass out the certificate of praise. Click on the link to view/download the Shapely Bunnies Packet.

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting! My poodle pup Chloe, is demanding some attention, so I guess it's time to quit for awhile and take her for a trot around the block. Wishing you an amazing day.

Pattern blocks are a wonderful manipulative for all sorts of activities, and introduce students to a few more geometric shapes, like the rhombus and trapezoid. My Y5s especially enjoyed lying on their tummies and making long lines of various patterns. (ABAB, ABBA, ABC-ABC etc.)

Not that we need anymore "to do" things added to an already overwhelming list, but as long as your kiddos are playing with pattern blocks, they might as well learn the names of them. This is easily done through repetition and simply allowing children to play with them.

Adding a few posters, so students can see the pattern block pictures throughout the day, is an easy reminder of these new shapes. Click on the link to view/download the Pattern Block Poster.

Punch a hole in the top and hang from the ceiling with paperclip hooks or clothespins, so that you can easily switch their positions. Choose 4 of the more difficult shapes and hang one in each corner.

The hexagon, trapezoid, rhombus and triangle, were the "toughies" for my kiddos. At the end of the day we played the game 4-Corners, which helped them practice those shapes in a fun way.

Another poster is a pattern block optical illusion.Do you think the trapezoid on the top is bigger? Chances are your students will think so, but it really isn't. Both pieces are the same size. Print and trim the pieces on a sheet of red construction paper to prove it to them. Click on the link to grab it.

Make a laminated booklet for your math center and have students use dry erase markers to fill in the information, or make a booklet for each child and have them work on a page a day. I've included two cover options.

I also made Rack Up A Stack. Students roll the dice to see which pattern block they need to stack on their mat.

A second roll, tells them how many of that pattern block they need to stack. Stacks can get pretty high if they keep rolling the same number.

If their stack falls, children put only the spilled pieces back in the pile.

The child with the most pieces stacked in one pattern block column can be the winner, or the one with the most stacks, or the one with the most total number of pattern blocks stacked.

To practice addition, give students the point value card, so they can add up the points in each stack, as well as a grand total. I've made the easier-to-stack pieces worth only 1 point, for easy counting, as well as higher point values for pattern blocks that are more difficult to stack.

I've purposely given these values of 2, 3 and 5 points, so that students can practice their skip counting skills. There's a recording sheet for them to show their work. Click on the link to grab it. Rack Up A Stack: Pattern Block game.

Another game challenge, is to have students use the pattern blocks to see how many ways they can make a hexagon. I chose this shape because it's a standard for many, and often a "toughie" shape to remember for lots of kiddos. Click on the link for the Hexagon Challenge With Pattern Blocks packet.

As with anything we studied, I liked to throw in some hands-on "craftivity" as another way to immerse my kiddos in whatever concept we were working on.

With that in mind, I made Pattern Block Pals. (Blockheads!) I think they turned out pretty cute and hope you like them too.

There are blank pattern block "head" templates, so your students can draw on their own faces, ones with a traceable word on them, plus ones with sweet faces.

They look great as a border, bulletin board, or suspended from the ceiling against a hallway wall. As a writing extension, have students list things on the back of their blockhead that also have that shape.

For example, on the back of a rhombus students could list kites, jewelry etc. Older students can mark an X on each corner and then count and record the vertices on the back.

A caption for your display could be: "Mrs. Henderson's Kinders Are Really Shaping Up." Click on the link to view/download the Pattern Block Pals packet.

Wow! That's a lot of pattern block options. I hope you found something that's just right for you. Thanks for visiting today.

The sun is trying to peek out, and dispite the fact that it's snowing again (boo hiss) I may venture out. It's March and time for Mother Nature to realize that winter weather should make way for springtime! Wishing you a magical day.

"Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society."-Alexander McCall Smith